VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 69 



horse's back ; often an object of ridicule at an early period of the chace, 

 but rarely failing to accomplish their object ere the day closed, "the 

 puzzling- pack unravelling wile by wile, maze within maze." It was 

 often the work of two or three hours to accomplish this ; but it was seldom, 

 in spite of her speed, her shifts, and her doublings, that the hare did not 

 fall a victim to her pursuers. 



The slowness of their pace gradually caused them to be almost totally 

 discontinued, until very lately, and especially in the royal park at Wind- 

 sor, they have been again introduced. Generally speaking, they have all 

 the strength and endurance which is necessary to ensure their killing their 

 game, and are much fleeter than their diminutive size would indicate. 

 Formerly, considerable fancy and even judgment used to be exercised in 

 the breeding of these dogs. They were curiously distinguished by the 

 names of " deep-flewed," or " shallow-flewed," in proportion as they had 

 the depending upper lip of the southern, or the sharper muzzle and more 

 contracted lip of the northern dogs. The shallow-flewed were the swiftest, 

 and the deep-flewed the stoutest and the surest, and their music the most 

 pleasant. The wire-haired beagle was considered as the stouter and 

 better dog. 



THE BEAGLE. 



The form of the head in beagles has been much misunderstood. They 

 have, or should have, large heads, decidedly round, and thick rather than 

 long ; there will then be room for the expansion of the nasal membrane 

 that of smell and for the reverberation of the sound, so peculiarly 

 pleasant in this dog. 



The beagle runs very low to the ground, and therefore has a stronger 

 impression of the scent than taller dogs. This is especially the case when 

 the scent is more than usually low. 



Among the advocates for beagles, several years ago, was Colonel Hardy. 

 He used to send his dogs in panniers, and they had a little barn for their 



